WATER COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS

Symposium Student Internship Opportunity!

An opportunity exists for students to volunteer and participate in the River Restoration Northwest Symposium.The 13th annual symposium will be held February 4-6, 2014 at Skamania Lodge in Stevenson, Washington. This symposium brings together multi-disciplinary professionals in the science and practice of river restoration planning and design.For more information on the symposium please visit the Symposium section of our website.

Student interns will have a unique opportunity to work with river restoration professionals at the symposium.Interns will be responsible for assisting with activities such as compiling symposium materials and helping with registration and presentations.Interns will be expected to be on site from 3pm Sunday February 2 through Thursday February 6 and will be responsible for their meals on Sunday and Monday and all travel costs (Monday lunch and all other meals will be provided).Each intern will be required to pay $100 for symposium registration and will receive shared lodging for the duration of the symposium.RRNW will support up to 6 student interns.Interested students should send their name, school and a brief description (no more than five sentences) of why they are interested in volunteering to:volunteer@rrnw.org by October 15, 2013.

New Online Course: Introduction to Water Diplomacy

Date: 21 Oct - 17 Nov 2013

Cost: USD $600

Course Description:

This online course will help raise participants’ awareness on the current state of freshwater resources worldwide and the need for adequate diplomatic solutions to foster cooperation around the management of water. It will provide knowledge resources, circumstantial experiences, and a cadre of tools to a variety of stakeholders towards enhancing their skills with aim to assess, prevent, and respond to the tensions arising from extreme situations of water scarcity and mismanagement worldwide. Such negotiation- and mediation-oriented experiences will be relevant to the great water pressures of our time and will serve to increase both short and longer term cooperation around water through shared benefits, inclusive multi-stakeholder agreements, and sustainable transboundary institution building.

Join staff from the Calapooia Watershed Council on a tour of a number of their recent projects.Participants will visit projects where landowners have partnered with CWC to enhance streamside conditions by planting native vegetation and improve habitat with in-stream log placement.Landowners living along the Calapooia River will discuss their experiences and what motivated them to become involved with the Council.Attendees will learn about how to manage invasive species, reduce stream erosion, and enhance fish and wildlife habitat through a host of programs CWC can help implement.

OSU WATER IN THE NEWS

Benton County Forum to Focus on the Environment (Benton County Board of Commissioners News Release)

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Water quality will be the primary topic of this year’s Fall Forum sponsored by the Benton County Environmental Issues Advisory Committee.

With the theme Rivers to Roofs, the event – scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 10, at the Corvallis Public Library, 645 NW Monroe Ave., in Corvallis – will feature speakers discussing a variety of water topics and announcing the Benton County Sustainability Award winner as well as the first-ever selection for the Benton County Environmental Award.

The Benton County Sustainability Award winner is selected by the Benton County Sustainability Committee and is designed as an internal organizational award to recognize sustainability oriented achievements and contributions among Benton County employees and programs. The Benton County Environmental Award is a broader community award, and the winner is selected by the Benton County Board of Commissioners. In its inaugural year, there are nine nominees for the Environmental Award. In addition to the awards, the following presentations will be on the agenda:

Healthy Streets and Stormwater Systems, by Iris Benson with the city of Corvallis;

Biochar Water Filtration Products, by John Miedema; and

Benton County Stormwater Management, by Adam Stebbins with Benton County Public Works.

The event is free and open to the public. Those in attendance will be invited to express their interests in environmental issues affecting Benton County. For more information, those interested can contact Laurie Starha at 541-766-6002.

For further information, contact:

Rick Osborn, Public Information Officer, Benton County Board of Commissioners